


Even in My Dreams, I Can’t Win

by CalicoColors



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Getting Together, M/M, Magic, Manipulation, but it all ends in kisses!, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 03:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoColors/pseuds/CalicoColors
Summary: On vacation, Riku and Sora just want to relax and explore a new world but only succeed in getting themselves in trouble as per usual. Now, escaping from the clutches of an evil witch doctor in New Orleans, Riku has to bring the talisman back to his friends before they're stuck as frogs forever.Unluckily for him, the Shadow Man has a few tricks up his sleeve, and he offers Riku a deal he simply can't refuse...his greatest desire in exchange for the talisman.(Princess and the Frog world crossover).





	Even in My Dreams, I Can’t Win

Riku trips slightly as he runs—or, in this case _hops_—down the alleyway, narrowly avoiding the swiping shadows. That was a close call. He has to be more careful than that if he wants to make it out of this in one piece!

In his mouth, he has the talisman clutched tightly, only the string poking out. He’s been running ever since the fly dropped the talisman in his hand and told him to _go!_, and he still doesn’t know exactly what it means but he’s pretty sure it has something to do with the voodoo doctor plus his army of shadows chasing them and the reason why they’re _frogs._

It was so sudden how it all happened. One moment, they were exploring the marketplace and posing knickknack figurines. The next, they accidentally got bumped by some bizarre magic and had to traverse an entire swamp as frogs in order to help a lady named Tiana, who was in the same frog-boat they were.

Frogs. He still can’t believe it. Does Sora really do this on the regular? Just change into frogs or lions or fish world to world? He can’t even summon his Keyblade like this!

Plus, he got separated from Sora and Tiana somewhere along the line, so not only can he not defend himself but he’s alone. He can only hope they didn’t get hurt along the way.

First priority, though, is that he has to get out of here, _now._

Suddenly, his escape is cut off by a tall man in a suit, and Riku skids a little on the cobblestones. Looking behind him, he’s well and truly boxed in by shadows that creep up the walls and dance on the floor.

_Damn it!_

The gentleman holds out a hand, fingers decorated with rings. “Hand over the talisman,” the Shadow Man drawls. “It is not yours to keep.”

Even just looking at this man screams _darkness._ He reeks of dark ozone the way only truly sleazy, immoral people do when they’ve tampered with darkness for too long. No way in all the worlds would he ever trust this “doctor” with anything, least of all his medical problems or this important-looking talisman. Riku flits his eyes around, surreptitiously peaks around a corner.

“No,” Riku grits. “You’re not going to ruin this world any longer.” Quickly, he turns to jump off the harbor to avoid the grasping shadows. If he can just make to the water, he’ll find the others and they can destroy the talisman together—

And then, in a flash, everything changes.

Riku wobbles on his feet, suddenly six feet taller than he was a second ago. Blinking, he squints at the shock of bright lights, glancing down at black shoes and not sticky frog pads. What had…?

The harbor is completely gone. Now he’s standing in the middle of a ballroom, couples waltzing together in beautiful gowns and pressed suits. It’s like he fell into a dark portal but without any idea of where he’d end up. Out of all the places, a _ballroom?_

The second most important feature he notices is that _he’s not a frog anymore!_ He’s never been more grateful to feel his awful flaky dry skin in his life. Riku stares at his perfectly-made nails in wonder.

A hands lands on his shoulder. “Wonderful, isn’t it?” A voice says from behind, and when Riku spins around he finds himself face to face with the Shadow Man.

“You…!” Of course. Random teleportation and sudden transformations like this don’t just _happen._

“Me!” the Shadow Man cheers. “Now, now, I know you must have questions—“ Riku moves to summon his Keyblade. “—ah, but wait just a minute!”

For some reason, Riku pauses. The couples dance peacefully around him, unaware of the brewing fight.

“What do you want?” Riku demands. There’s a trick here, he knows. He’s just got to figure it out.

“To have a nice night at a ball, of course,” he says, sipping from a wine glass. “I do enjoy them very much.”

Riku squints, trying to parse out the trap. This guy doesn’t look the type to skulk around in a fancy place like this. “And I just have to be here too, I guess.”

“Why, yes. After all, you do love dancing, don’t you? Waltz, tango, _ballet…” _In the crowd, a few dancers twirl gracefully, the same moves he had practiced when he was younger and admired the art from afar.

Unconsciously, Riku twitches. How did he know that?

“What’s your angle?” Riku says, tracking the dancers.

The Shadow Man makes an annoying smacking noise after his next sip. “I’ll be honest: I’m here to make an offer to you, Riku. One you simply can’t refuse!”

Riku snorts. Like he’ll believe anything this guy says. Yeah, right.

“You see, this world…is of no consequence to you. I am a simple businessman; people come to me, and I fulfill their dreams—at a cost. Sometimes I can’t always control what it does, sometimes I can, yadda yadda. It’s the way of the spirits,” the Man flaps his hand before focusing back.

“You didn’t even want to come here, did you? You’re a visitor from another world,” at Riku’s shock, he laughs. “I’m well versed in other dimensions, my friend. I know how vast the universe is.”

“You’re a con man who takes advantage of people. I think that _is_ of consequence to me.”

“You don’t even belong here. What does it matter to you what becomes of it? I don’t desire world domination or something so ridiculous as that—all I want is to help a few folks out here and there while making a pretty penny in the meantime. And I need that shiny charm back to achieve that.”

Riku suddenly remembers the talisman clutched in his fist. He tightens his grip. The Shadow Man hums. “Tell you what, though. For all your troubles, I’ll make _your_ dreams come true, hm?” He smiles. “Isn’t there something _else_ you love very dearly?”

_Yes._

“Riku!” Sora’s voice calls, and Riku spins around automatically as if he was pulled by force, tied by a string Sora uses to reel him in.

There, framed by warm lights, is Sora, and all of Riku’s breath leaves him in an instant. He’s dressed neatly in a suit, red bowtie ruffled under his chin, hair spiky as always and eyes bright and excited. He’s—stunning. Jaw-droppingly _gorgeous. _He’s always known Sora is attractive but in that outfit, in this room, his heart beats impossibly faster at just the sight of him.

“Sora!?” Riku calls, jogging the rest of the way up to him. “How—he brought you here too?”

“Hm? What are you talking about, Riku?” Sora says with a laugh. “You’ve been sitting out too long! Come dance with me!”

His heart leaps at the offer but his mind drags it back on topic. “No, Sora, we have to—”

Sora kisses him. It’s a nice kiss, warm and gentle, and Riku can faintly hear the sound of explosions in his mind over it as his brain completely shorts out. _WHAT._

“…sah?” Riku mumbles elegantly as Sora pulls away, smile brighter than the sun.

“I’m never going to get tired of doing that with you,” Sora giggles. “You look so handsome! I couldn’t help myself.”

Now that he’s mentioned it, he notices his arm is covered by the same type of suit material Sora’s wearing, feels the restrictions of a tight outfit across his shoulders. He can’t look closer, though, because he can’t bear to pull away from Sora’s eyes and the way his skin glows beautifully in the light.

This…can’t be real. “This isn’t real.” Riku says, a little numbly. Sora would never do this, never feel the way Riku does towards him. He wouldn’t be standing here, staring at him with so much love, such _wonder _in his gaze…

“It can be,” the Shadow Man’s smooth voice slides in, and Riku finally breaks his gaze to glance at him.

He takes another sip from his never-ending wine. “You care for that friend of yours very much, don’t you? That Sora, a hero loved by all, who shines brighter than you could ever hope to…someone who isn’t _yours_ and never could be.”

Sora—fake Sora, illusion Sora—traces his worried brow with gentle touches. “I’ve always loved you, Riku. My entire life, I knew you were the one I’d want to spend every moment with. There’s never been anyone else but you.”

Helpless to stop it, Riku tightens his fist to stop his hands from shaking, feeling the sharp edges of the charm dig into his palm. This is the cruelest thing anyone has ever done to him. Showing him the Sora he’s always wanted to see, the one he sees in selfish dreams when he’s at his weakest.

And like the selfish, awful, dark heart he has, Riku is helpless to the thrall.

He barely feels the hand slide across his shoulder, the voice crooning in his ear. “I can make him yours. He won’t ever remember a day when he didn’t want you and only you. He won’t ever leave your side, because he loves you too much to ever let you go. The way you feel towards him…he’ll feel it twice as much.”

Riku’s breath stutters, feeling his throat lock up. Not possible—no one could ever love anyone as much as he loves Sora, not even Sora himself. He feels it in his veins every day, the pushing need to do better, be stronger, all for Sora.

Over time, from when he was a snot-nosed angst-ridden teen to now, he’s learned to love freely. He stops keeping people at a distance and starts letting them in, accepting that they _care_ about him and all his awful broken parts. He’s stronger now in than he ever was before thanks to everything he learned through his journeys, his mistakes, what Sora taught him.

He’s also accepted a long time ago that he can love Sora, but only to a certain extent. If they’ll never be more than best friends, Riku will be completely satisfied with that because it means he can stay by Sora’s side. Even if having more would make him so happy.

Sora can never, ever know how deep this runs. It’s like he’s some…crazy, obsessive weirdo, even though _its not like that _but that doesn’t matter, that’s all Sora would see and then Sora will leave.

And he can’t lose everything. He can’t. Riku’s worked _so hard _to get to this point, where he’s happy and with friends and…

The voices weaves around him, spinning a thread so fine it twines right in his thoughts and twists them into something else, something darker. “You deserve this. No one else knows him like you do, no one else could love him like you do.”

“Let’s dance, Riku.” Sora grabs his hands, pulling at his clenched fist gently. “C’mon, let go of whatever this is! You promised you’d teach me to spin like those dancers over there.”

The waltz seems to swell in sound, tuning to his heartbeat, almost pulling him in. The ballroom wavers dreamily like heat waves on a summer day but Sora remains clear, his gaze beckoning with a hand outstretched.

With Sora’s eyes on him, he feels all-powerful, like everything is right with the world. All for him. No one else.

Riku _wants_ to dance with him, the way he’s never wanted to in years. Feeling the itch under his skin from the anticipation of being close to Sora, being loved by Sora, forever…

Was Sora’s smile always this sharp?

Riku blinks, and the illusion shatters.

That’s not Sora. That’s _not _Sora, he’s not in a ballroom, he’s not back to normal, and _this isn’t how it’s going to be. _

His hands no longer shake as he squeezes the talisman. “Try _this_ spin, then.”

With all his strength, he leaps sideways, feeling himself change, twist, turn but not stopping. He hears a yell from behind him, loud and frustrated, and suddenly something reach out and grab his flat foot.

_No!_

The talisman falls out of his grasp at the abrupt jerk, and he watches in slow motion as it sails toward the concrete into the waiting grasp of a shadow—

Suddenly, a lighter green frog snatches the talisman mid-air. The shadow’s face changes from a smirk to a shocked frown.

“Tiana!” Riku says, grinning as much as he can with his too-wide frog mouth.

“Hope we’re not too late!” Sora-frog crows, and Riku glances over from his dangle to spot a slightly darker frog coming up the back.

Riku laughs joyfully. That’s Sora, always pulling off a half-baked rescue at the last second.

The shadows are fast but Tiana’s faster, having caught them off guard. The Shadow Man growls from above him. “You sniveling, meddling _brats!” _His fist tightens around his foot painfully.

Riku grits but bears it, a triumphant glint in his eyes. “Like I said, we’re not going to let you cause anymore problems or make anymore deals _ever_ again.”

The Shadow Man’s eyes burn with a fury so powerful it makes the darkness swelling around him seem like weak fireworks, and Riku croaks loudly as he feels himself being whirled around.

The pressure on his foot releases as the doctor lets go, sending him thrashing through the air—smashing head-first into the brick wall painfully, knocking the wind and consciousness out of him.

The last thing he hears before blacking out is Sora’s worried scream calling out to him as if through a dream.

* * *

“You’re _sure_ you’re okay?” Sora says worriedly. He adjusts the ice pack on Riku’s head for the millionth time and Riku bats his arm away.

“I told you, I’m fine. It’s just a headache,” Riku groans.

“If you say so…”

“I am so. I know everything, don’t you know that?” That finally pulls a smile out of Sora, and Riku tries to grin back from around the giant ice pack covering half his face.

They’re back in the Gummiship Sora had borrowed for their adventure, magically returned back to human-sized. After Tiana had run off, she managed to break the talisman which returned Sora and Riku back to their original bodies, and a little while later Tiana and Naveen returned too, human and whole.

The Shadow Man, true to his name, was apparently dragged kicking and screaming out of this world to somewhere fitting for him with like-minded angry shadows and spirits. Riku was right: he _was _tampering with darkness outside of his control, and he clearly paid the ultimate price for it. Either way, he’s gone, and everything has gone back to normal in this world.

At least, that’s what Sora gave him the summary for. Riku had woken up from his impromptu knock-out nap with a splitting headache, five fingers on his hands again, and a concerned Sora leaned in so close, that if Riku moved just a little further forward…

Riku closes his aching eyes to avoid the harsh lights in the Gummiship cabin. Not only does his head aches, his heart does too, feeling skinned raw after that whole debacle.

How could he let himself be so _manipulated_ by someone like that? Is he still really no better than another denizen of darkness? He would never betray Sora’s trust like that, not ever again, letting someone alter his memories for Riku’s sick benefit.

Even the thought of it makes him ill. He wretched once on the way to the ship from it and played it off as a headache symptom.

And yet, he can’t stop thinking about that Sora in the ballroom, dressed so beautifully with a hand outstretched, saying _dance with me, Riku! _and _I love you, Riku. _Almost giving in is going to haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life…but he knows, with a burst of shame, that seeing Sora like that is going to frequent his dreams as well.

“I’m sorry the trip ended up like this,” Sora says sullenly, and Riku cracks an eye open to see the way he’s slumped on the bench. “It was supposed to be fun.”

“I thought it was fun,” Riku assured. “I mean, how many people can say they’ve been turned into a frog and fought off an evil witch doctor? Not many.”

Sora giggles a little and Riku goes on, trying to coax out more smiles. “The town really was nice to explore before we got interrupted. Especially all those little shops.”

“Yeah! Oh, I didn’t get to buy anything, we can come back another time—and do it right this time.” Sora glances out the window just as Riku winces. Coming back?

Sure, it would be nice to see Tiana again, and shops would probably be just as wonderful, but…it’s still a bad reminder of how badly he could have ruined their lives. The doctor would have the talisman, everyone would remain as a frog, and Riku would suffer in a gilded hell of his own making.

Maybe if he wasn’t so _weak_, things would be different. Maybe in the next world, things will be…

Well, that doesn’t really matter. Because after this, he barely deserves to stay by Sora’s side. Either he gets himself under _control_ or he has to separate himself from Sora and their little vacations off-world. For both their sake.

(Mostly Sora’s. God, how could Riku be so _stupid?_ Has he really learned _nothing,_ even after everything?

Pitiful. Disgusting. Cruel. _Corrupt—_)

“Riku?” Sora asks, and Riku refocuses on his voice from his blank stare at the wall.

“Hm?”

“…are you okay?”

“Uh. My head aches a little, but otherwise…yes?” Riku says, drawing the words out, a little unsure of Sora’s sudden intense gaze aimed at him. “We’re good to head out if you want but you’ll have to drive. I don’t want to test my luck steering my way around an asteroid field like this, sorry.”

“Yeah, um, in a minute, okay?” Sora says. “I wanted to ask you something first.”

Riku swallows, feeling transparent. “Sure. Anything.”

Sora shifts in his seat, scratching his head. “Well, after we got separated, me and Tiana started combing through the alleys as fast as we could to find you. Which was a really difficult because most towns weren’t made to be traveled fast by frogs. It would have taken us forever to stumble on to you!

“Luckily, though, we turned a few corners and heard voices…” Sora trails off a little, glancing at Riku once before going back to the wall, and Riku feels his heart start pounding out of his chest even as he keeps his expression neutral.

Voices. Not just one. Meaning that…

“We, um, heard…Naveen said that the Shadow Man tries to manipulate people based on their greatest desires, and I wasn’t really _trying_ to listen but I knew you were in trouble and…”

“How much did you hear,” Riku mutters numbly.

“…most of it,” Sora says, and Riku’s world starts crashing around him.

Most of it. All of his shameful desires, the ones he tried for _years_ to shove down so far inside him they’d never see the light of day, are now known to the one person who never, ever should have known. A cold pit of dread builds in his chest, spreading sharp icy shards through his veins.

Sora always said that he’d always accept Riku no matter what. Always talking about the light in his heart, and how his flaws don’t make him less of a good person no matter what he claims.

But how could someone just accept _this?_ Someone like him, a vile dark soul who can’t even keep a best friend because his greedy heart keeps wanting more, more, more of his attention. He doesn’t deserve love. He doesn’t deserve anything but the worst, for even _considering_ that stupid freaking offer that fake doctor made.

Sora is still flitting his eyes around. He’s so disgusted by Riku he can’t even _look_ at him anymore, and Riku feels a little more of his forced calm slip away.

“I’m so sorry, Sora,” Riku whispers, closing his eyes. “So, so sorry.”

He hears a bump as Sora shifts. “Wait, so that was all true?”

Scratching his arms roughly, Riku nods. Damming himself.

Maybe that’ll be the end of it. Maybe Sora will say nothing at all and start the ship, and when they return to the tower he’ll approach Riku and say _I don’t think this is working out anymore _and leave without looking back. Maybe he’ll force him to leave now and Riku will watch the ship fly away into the clouds, left behind the way he’s always feared.

“So you’re really…”

“In love with you? Yeah.” The words scrape out of his mouth like broken glass and Riku flinches at hearing it, but Sora deserves the truth. “For a long time. And it was fine, I was fine with it, I never expected to do anything with it. But I guess he saw that and decided to use it against me.”

Riku finally looks up and winces at the shock on Sora’s face. “I-I know. I ruined it. I should have just—not even given him the time of day. But I didn’t and I almost hurt you because of my stupid issues again. So I’m sorry.”

Even if he can never forgive Riku, he has to say _something, _try to make this right any way he knows how even if he knows the damage is likely irreparable at this point.

Sora furrows his brows angrily. He’s always hated it when Riku talks down to himself. “That wasn’t you, Riku. He was manipulating you!”

“Oh yeah?” Riku grits. He clenches his fists on his knees. “Was Maleficent_ just manipulating _me? Could Ansem have ever affected me if not for the darkness in my heart? You can’t manipulate someone if the feelings aren’t already there!”

“But you said no,” Sora says. “I heard you say no. You saw through it and knew better because you’re strong, stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Not anymore. Not after this…

Sora pursues his lips as if he could hear Riku’s thoughts plain as day. He really needs to start covering his too-honest eyes again. They give too much away. “It was a trick _designed _to make you fall for it. Anyone would have! But you didn’t.”

“So what? I still _considered it._ And for half a second I didn’t even know if I _could_ say no, that’s how bad it was.”

“I’ve considered doing awful things too, you know,” Sora snaps. “I’ve made bad decisions, I’ve made mistakes, and I still hate myself for every one of them. But you know what, Riku? That doesn’t matter. Because it’s what you do _after_ that matters. Even after Maleficent or Ansem, you still did good because you have a heart made of light, and I’m not going to sit here and let you beat yourself up over this.”

Riku sees the fire in Sora’s eyes, hardly daring to believe it. How could someone like Sora ever see the good in him? Does it exist, really? His heart aches but for a different reason this time, something fond and terribly loving running through his veins.

What did he ever do to deserve this?

“And even if you _had_ said yes—” Riku goes numb at the thought. “Nothing would have happened, because you can’t change something that already exists.”

Huh?

A flush settles over Sora’s cheeks. “You’re not the only one who thinks like that, Riku.”

Riku just stares. This…isn’t anywhere close to the conversation he was expecting to have with Sora. Is Sora really saying…?

Fidgeting anxiously, Sora smiles a little. Riku is so distracted by his nerves for a second that he forgets what to say, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he finally says, “What…are you saying, exactly?”

“I’m _saying_, if I had been in your place, it would have been a hard offer for me as well. Because I’m in love with you too.”

Pause. Skip. Repeat.

_“What!?”_

“I said what I meant and meant what I said!” Sora says quite happily. Standing straight on his feet, shoulders up to his beet-red ears, Riku stares at him blankly. Does the room smell like smoke to anyone else? Because his brain is _completely_ fried.

Riku might be dying of shock. Or his fried mind. Something very hopeful and very happy creeps up his spine, only held back by a slight tinge of fear. What if this is another trick? What if he just misheard that?

Sora fidgets the longer Riku doesn’t say anything, and in true Sora fashion begins to babble. “I realized it a few months ago but I think it’s been a long time coming. Remember that one time when we were in class a while ago and you put your arm around my shoulder and did that really nice super attractive laugh I like and I tripped over the mop bucket then fell into the trashcan because I couldn’t stop looking at you? Yeah.”

He does. He remembers helping him up and laughing about how Sora smelled like old banana peels for the rest of the day. It was strange, though, because even though Sora is clumsy he’s usually not _that_ clumsy.

Judging by the blush on his face, Riku gets why he was like that now. And that’s a concept Riku is floored by. Completely flattened. Just entirely run over, sent out of commission, he’s having a crisis due to the realization that Sora was so distracted by him that he _knocked over a mop bucket and fell into a trashcan for him._

It’s easily the most charming, most romantic thing that Riku’s ever heard. Second only to this moment right now. If this is a dream, he’s going to politely threaten to never wake up from it.

Another moment passes. “…are you going to say anything?” Sora asks, and Riku jolts out of his fond reminiscing and future date plans. Which are all _entirely_ possible now because Sora likes him. _Likes_ him!

But he has to ask one more time, just in case, because he doesn’t want Sora to make the biggest mistake of his life by getting involved with him and his stupid baggage. “Even after all that…everything I’ve done, you still want to…?”

Now Sora stands up, hands on his hips. “For the last time, _yes,_ Riku! I love you, I forgive you, I trust you—how many times do I have to say it!?” His voice softens. “I mean all of it.”

Riku opens his mouth. Sora cuts him off. “And I love you for _you_, you know! I mean, you’re always so sweet, and nice, and you’re my best friend and I’m rambling again but you better not be saying anything bad about yourself or I’m going to kick you in the shins.”

“Actually I was going to ask if we could maybe kiss. But, um…” Riku grins. “That was nice too.”

“Why didn’t you say so!?” Sora yells, and in the next breath he’s jumped into Riku’s arms, kissing the living daylights out of him.

It’s not exactly like every fantasy he’s ever had—their teeth clack, their noses bump painfully, and Riku may have accidentally bitten Sora’s tongue when it got a little too overzealous. Still, it’s pretty close. Either way, it’s _wonderful. _The best thing that’s happened to him all day. Without a doubt.

After an incredible, long moment, where Riku thinks he could finally die happy in this bubble of warmth and happiness they made, they pull away from each other, grinning like buffoons.

“That was…something,” Riku says, licking his lips. His blush gives him away. His feet might as well be drifting on clouds, he’s so _happy_.

“We’ll work on it,” Sora promises, which means there’ll be _more_ times like this in the future and they’ll be even better and seriously, Riku could just melt away right now. Never in his life did he ever think he’d have this. Ever deserve to have it.

Something must show on his face because Sora leans in close with the fondest look on his face. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, you know. I’m like one of those cats that never leave no matter how many times you sweep them off your porch.”

“I’d never want to,” Riku says, marveling at how close they are, how warm his hands are where they touch on Sora’s arms. “You’re too cute to be swept away. And nice. And thoughtful and charming and funny-looking—"

“Rikuuu! Stoooop!” Sora pinches his cheeks to shut him up.

In response, Riku laughs, then winces as the affection-fueled adrenaline fades away and reminds him of his massive concussion. He picks his ice pack up from the floor, giving Sora a novel peck just because _he can_ now, not willing to separate with him just yet. “So, where are we heading to next, anyways? Preferably somewhere with a few less frogs.”

Sora smiles. It’s the type of dangerous smile that Riku knows to be worried about when he sees because that smile means Sora’s plotting.

“Have you ever been to Atlantica?”

Riku thinks of slimy fish scales and more flailing around in water, only a slight improvement than the swamp they were just in. “No way.”

“Come oooon,” Sora wheedles, sliding up even close. “I can’t just change the itinerary I had planned on a whim!”

Riku raises an eyebrow. Sora most certainly can. He just doesn’t want to for the express purpose of torturing Riku, a favorite pastime of his.

Who’s he kidding, though. Sora could take him to the worst corners of the galaxy and Riku would still follow him because he has Riku wrapped around his finger. Not like he’s going to let Sora know that, though. He’ll never live it down. Though, he suspects Sora already knows, and that’s why he keeps bringing out the adorable pleading eyes.

Which _always_ works on him! Seriously, is he that predictable!? Riku sighs loudly even though they both know he doesn’t really mean it.

“Fine. But you owe me!” Riku calls after Sora as he gives him a big hug before running to the driver’s seat in victory.

Turning around with a sly smile, Sora smiles brightly, a promise in the sparkle of it. “I’m sure I can think of something.”

With a loud engine roar, they take off to their next adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> Had this idea for a while, finally decided to act on it…at 3am. On a school day. Priorities!
> 
> Anyways, I’m writing this as a break for myself in between writing my big WIP. I’m keeping that a secret for now because I don’t like to make promises I can’t keep, but it’s multi-chaptered. Also I just really like the Princess and the Frog, which I think is a universal agreement in this fandom.
> 
> Title is from "Even in My Dreams, I Can't Win" by Bad Suns. You all are amazing and I appreciate everything you do!! Thanks for being you and thanks for reading! : )


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